Of Assets and Liabilities

1

1| Admire

-

"Assets are defined as resources with economic value that an individual, corporation, or even a country, owns and controls with the expectation that it will provide future benefits while liabilities are legally binding obligations that are payable to another person or entity."

Isang malabat na ngiti ang sumilay sa kanyang mga labi nag magsipalakpakan ang kanyang mga kaklase pagkatapos masagutan ang tanong ni Mr. Sandoval—their professor for her major.

Kilala si Mr. Sandoval bilang isang "terror professor" na bigla-bigla nagbibigay ng graded recitations without even giving them any material to review. Tapos, kapag hindi nila masagutan ang mga tanong nito, they are required to stand up until the end of the class. Talk about torture.

But she always does her fair share of advance reading. Also, the idea of assets and liabilities should be basic knowledge for an accountancy student like her. Kaya naman confident siya na tama ang kanyang naging sagot. Uupo na sana siya muli nang biglang magsalita ang propesor.

"Your answer is quite complicated, Miss Santillan," the old man said as he folded his arms. "May naintindihan ka ba sa sinabi mo or did Google also explained what you just memorized?"

Napamaang siya sa komento ng guro. Even her classmates looked perplexed.

Complicated? How is my answer complicated?! And Google?

She calmed herself and took a deep breath. She knows better than to argue with a professor who finds failing student exhilarating. She chanted in her head that this man right here holds a part of the key to her future. That if in the event he fails her in this subject, she'd have to reorganize all her goals and plans in life. And she can't have that. Kailangan niyang maikabit sa kanyang pangalan ang tatlong letrang C, P at A.

Amaranth Nicolette Santilla, CPA.

She smiled and looked straight at her professor.

"In simpler terms, sir, assets are what a company owns while liabilities are what they owe."

There. Simple and concise. Sana naman ay pumasa na sa mataas na standard nito ang kanyang sagot.

"Wrong," anito sabay tingin sa iba niyang mga kaklase. Gulat ang lahat maging siya. Lahat nagtataka kung ano ba ang mali sa sinabi niya. "And Asset ay ang mga pag-aari ng isang indibidual habang ang Liabilities naman ay ang pagkakautang."

What the actual fuck?! Tama naman ang sinabi ko ah! He just translated my answer in Tagalog!

"Next time, Miss Santillan, don't base your answers in Google. Learn to read books in the library. Please remain standing," sambit nito sabay talikod sa kanya. "So class, who can discuss equity..."

Napamaang siya. She basically lives inside the library. She preferred reading books over searching the internet but she does research there too for additional information.

Napatingin siya sa mga kapwa kaklaseng nakatayo dahil hindi nila nasagutan ang mga naging tanong sa kanila. They all looked like they'd rather be elsewhere. Her tongue poked the inside of her cheek.

This wasn't fair! She clearly answered the question correctly so she should be allowed to sit unlike her other classmates. And memorize? Of course she did but she understood the topic well!

Siguro nga ay may mali siya noong unang pagsagot niya dahil naging teknikal siya. Pero nang pinaulit nito sa kanya ang sagot in lay man's term, nagawa naman niya iyon!